In the famous long scroll Along the River During the Qingming Festival painted by Zhang Zeduan ( 1085 – 1145 AD ) during the Song Dynasty ( 960 – 1297 AD ), a suanpan is clearly seen lying beside an account book and doctor's prescriptions on the counter of an apothecary's ( Feibao ).

Early descriptions of the production process and glazing techniques used for bricks can be found in the Song Dynasty carpenter's manual Yingzao Fashi, published in 1103 by the government official Li Jie, who was put in charge of overseeing public works for the central government's construction agency.

Native Chinese astronomy flourished during the Song Dynasty, and during the Yuan Dynasty became increasingly influenced by medieval Islamic astronomy.

References to cannibalizing the enemy has also been seen in poetry written in the Song Dynasty, ( for example, in Man Jiang Hong ) although the cannibalizing is perhaps poetic symbolism, expressing hatred towards the enemy.

This economic phenomenon was a slow and gradual process that took place from the late Tang Dynasty ( 618 – 907 ) into the Song Dynasty ( 960 – 1279 ).

In the 10th century, the Song Dynasty government began circulating these notes amongst the traders in their monopolized salt industry.

Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money

The Song Dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, while the Yuan Dynasty was the first to use notes as the predominant circulating medium.

Capitals: of the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng and Lin ' an ; of the Liao Dynasty, Shangjing, Nanjing, and Tokmok ; of the Jin Dynasty, Shangjing, Zhongdu, and Kaifeng ; of the Western Xia Dynasty, Yinchuan

In 960, the Song Dynasty gained power over most of China and established its capital in Kaifeng ( later known as Bianjing ), starting a period of economic prosperity, while the Khitan Liao Dynasty ruled over Manchuria, present-day Mongolia, and parts of Northern China.

The Jin Dynasty took power over northern China and Kaifeng from the Song Dynasty, which moved its capital to Hangzhou ( 杭州 ).

The Southern Song Dynasty also suffered the humiliation of having to acknowledge the Jin Dynasty as formal overlords.

In the ensuing years, China was divided between the Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty and the Tangut Western Xia.

This included the use of gunpowder weapons, which played a large role in the Song Dynasty naval victories against the Jin in the Battle of Tangdao and Battle of Caishi on the Yangtze River in 1161.

The Song Dynasty is considered by many to be classical China's high point in science and technology, with innovative scholar-officials such as Su Song ( 1020 – 1101 ) and Shen Kuo ( 1031 – 1095 ).

In ancient China, large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Warring States ( 481 – 221 BC ), the longest one of that period being the Hong Gou ( Canal of the Wild Geese ), which according to the ancient historian Sima Qian connected the old states of Song, Zhang, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei.

* Mote, Frederick W. Imperial China, 900 – 1800 Harvard University Press, 1999, 1, 136 pages, the authoritative treatment of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties ;

After Confucius's resignation, he began a long journey or set of journeys around the small kingdoms of northeast and central China, traditionally including the states of Wei, Song, Chen, and Cai.

Outside Europe, the escapement mechanism had been known and used in medieval China, as the Song Dynasty horologist and engineer Su Song ( 1020 – 1101 ) incorporated it into his astronomical clock-tower of Kaifeng in 1088.

This also has a long history in China, with production believed to date back to the Song Dynasty.

The handheld pistol-and-trigger crossbow was invented in China in the 4th century BC ; it was written by the Song Dynasty scholars Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du, and Yang Weide in their book Wujing Zongyao ( 1044 AD ) that massed missile fire by crossbowmen was the most effective defense against enemy cavalry charges.

Emperor Yingzong of Song ordered Sima Guang and other scholars to begin compiling this universal history of China in 1065 and they presented it to his successor Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1084.

The book chronologically narrates the history of China from the Warring States period in 403 BCE to the beginning of the Song Dynasty in 959 CE.

Some World-systems analysts contend capitalism first arose in Song dynasty China by following Kondratiev waves to their source.

Although this method of charting seems to have existed in China even prior to this publication and scientist, the greatest significance of the star maps by Su Song is that they represent the oldest existent star maps in printed form.

Handscroll detail of a China | Chinese percussionist playing a drum for a dancing woman, from a 12th century remake of Gu Hongzhong's 10th century originals, Song Dynasty.

The oldest confirmed written mention of dominoes in China comes from the Former Events in Wulin ( i. e. the capital Hangzhou ) written by the Yuan Dynasty ( 1271 – 1368 ) author Zhou Mi ( 1232 – 1298 ), who listed " pupai " ( gambling plaques or dominoes ) as well as dice as items sold by peddlers during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song ( r. 1162 – 1189 ).

The enormous encyclopedic work in China of the Four Great Books of Song, compiled by the 11th century AD during the early Song Dynasty ( 960 – 1279 ), was a massive literary undertaking for the time.

There were many great encyclopedists throughout Chinese history, including the scientist and statesman Shen Kuo ( 1031 – 1095 ) with his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, the statesman, inventor, and agronomist Wang Zhen ( active 1290 – 1333 ) with his Nong Shu of 1313, and the written Tiangong Kaiwu of Song Yingxing ( 1587 – 1666 ), the latter of whom was termed the " Diderot of China " by British historian Joseph Needham.

However, the concept pre-dates the naming of these establishments, as evidence suggests commercial food preparation may have existed during the age of the city of Pompeii, and urban sales of prepared foods may have existed in China during the Song Dynasty.

* 960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song Dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries.

The Essentials was however written by a Song Dynasty court bureaucrat, and there's little evidence that it had any immediate impact on warfare ; there is no mention of gunpowder use in the chronicles of the wars against the Tanguts in the eleventh century, and China was otherwise mostly at peace during this century.

Rival political factions at the Song Dynasty court created strife amongst the leading statesmen and ministers of the empire.

Polymath figures such as the statesmen Shen Kuo and Su Song ( 1020 – 1101 ) embodied advancements in all fields of study, including biology, botany, zoology, geology, mineralogy, mechanics, horology, astronomy, pharmaceutical medicine, archeology, mathematics, cartography, optics, art criticism, and more.

The word katana was used in ancient Japan and is still used today, whereas the old usage of the word nihontō is found in the poem 日本刀歌, the Song of Nihontō, by the Song Dynasty poet Ouyang Xiu.

The Song Dynasty ( 960 – 1279 ) scholar Ouyang Xiu ( 1007 – 1072 ) asserted that playing cards and card games existed at least since the mid-Tang Dynasty and associated their invention with the simultaneous development of using sheets or pages instead of paper rolls as a writing medium.

* 1043: the Song Dynasty Chancellor of China, Fan Zhongyan, and prominent official and historian Ouyang Xiu introduce the Qingli Reforms, which would be rescinded by the court in 1045 due to partisan resistance to reforms.

* The Song Dynasty Chinese historian and scholar Ouyang Xiu obtains his jinshi degree at the age of only 22 by passing the highest level examinations in the country ( his third attempt ), leading him into a distinguished path as a scholar-official.

Prominent examples of Song poets include Su Shi ( Dongpo ), Ouyang Xiu, Lu You and Yang Wanli.

Ouyang Xiu once again promoted the use of classical prose in the Song dynasty.

Built by the Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu when he served as prefect of the city, this hall stands just west of Fajing Temple.

The Song Dynasty historian Ouyang Xiu traced the Ouyang surname to Di ( 蹄, Pinyin: Tí ), a prince of Yue, the second son of King Wujiang ( 無疆 / 无疆 ).

Genealogical lineages and family trees have been established for a number of Ouyang clans around China, showing migration patterns from the Song to the Qing Dynasty.

* Ouyang Xiu Song Dynasty scholar

Members of the Chinese literati, such as the Song Dynasty's Ouyang Xiu, contributed greatly to this new culture.

Despite these contributions, however, the Song Dynasty historian Ouyang Xiu ( the lead author of the New History of the Five Dynasties ) blamed him for luxurious living and for imposing heavy taxation and punishments on his people.

Huang is one of the Five Greats of the wulin ( martial artists ' community ) during the Song Dynasty, alongside Wang Chongyang, Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng and Duan Zhixing.